Attachment for can-cappers.



C. H. BOYD.

ATTACHMENT Foa cAN cAPPERs;

APpLlCIATlON FILED OCT. 5| |914. 191979903., PateI1tedSept.12,1916.

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C. H. BOYD.

ATTACHMENT FOR CAN CAPPERS.

APPLICATION FILED ocT. 5. 1914.

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` c, H. BOYD. ATTACHMENT To CAN cAPPsRs.

y y APPLICATION FILED OCT- 5, 19M. 1 97,903 Patented Sept. 12, 1916.

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CHARLES H. BOYD, or HooPEsToN, ILLrivoIs, Assreivon ro sPnAGUE canarino MACHINERY COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

ATTACHMENT FOR CAN-GAPPERS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 12, 1916.

Application filed October 5, 1914. Serial No. 865,072.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, CHARLES H. BOYD,

a citizen of the United States, residing atl a full, clear, concise, and exact description,

reference being had to the accompanying drawing, forming a part of this specifica` tion.

My invention relates to attachments Ifor can cappers.

In .can capping it oftentimes ybecomes desirable to remove the capping steels out of contact with the cans during the soldering process. In can cappers as heretofore known means have been provided for raising any one of the capping steels (there being usually a number of steels operating simultaneously) but this does not meet all the emergencies that may arise.

It is, therefore, one of the objects of my invention to provide means for raising simultaneously all of the capping steels that.

are performing the soldering process out of contact with the cans.

Further objects of my invention are to'` provide means for automatically holding the steels in such raised position; to provide such a device that is economical to manufacture and simple and eflicient in its operation.

Still a further object of my invention is to provide means for adjusting the can feeding and discharging guides to be available for use with cans of various sizes.

Additional objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent from the following description taken in connection with the appended claims.

I have described in the following specification and illustrated 'in the accompanying drawings a safety appliance for can cappers constructed in accordance with my invention, it being clearly understood that changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit of my invention or` exceeding the scope of the appended claims, the form of the invention herein disclosed being merely one preferred embodiment thereof.

In thedrawings: Figure 1 is a top plan view of a rotary can capper having att-ached the center of Fig; 1.

. incontact with the can caps.

thereto a safety appliance and adjustable guides constructed in accordance with my invention; Fig. 2 is a side elevation, with parts broken away, of a portion of the capper shown in Fig. 1 Fig-3 is a similar view from the right of Fig. 2; and Fig. 1' is a vertical cross sectional viewv taken through The cappers in which myl improvements are embodied are of the sort in which filled cans withl the caps in place are fed to a rotating table, each can being under a capping steelv and vent rod which travel with the cans'and which are, during a portion of their'travel, in contact with the cans.

Referringto the drawings, sleeves 10 from which are supported the'capping steels, are slidably journaled in a ring bearing 11 so that the steels may be moved in and out of capping position. Slidably embraced withinthe sleeves 10 are vent rods 12 which are 1 capped by weights 13 to cause them to descend by gravity to hold the cans in place while the soldering Vis going on, the engagement of the weights 13 with the ring bearing 11 limiting such downward displacement,

Normal regulation of the vertical displacement of vent rods and capping steels is accomplished by means of lifting arms 111, ,one for each sleeve, having thereon rollers 15- arranged to travel on a cam track 16 which is provided with normal surface 17 and cam surfaces 18 and 19 causing the lifting arms to take corresponding positions as hereinafter appears. To cause the sleeves, and consequently the capping steels carried thereby, to be raised by movement of the lifting arms, collars 2O on the sleeves bear on the lifting arms and it will be apparent that when the latter are raised by the cam track the sleeves 10 will be carried upward with them, descent of the parts, when permitted, being caused by ga'vity.

Cans being fed to the rotating 'tab-le as hereinafter described, the rollers ofthe lifting arms which correspond to several capping steels just beyond the intakepoint are on the normal surface 17 of the cam track thus permitting the sleeves .to descend to the position shown in the drawings in which position the capping steels and vent rods are As each can is carried far enough for the soldering to `take. place, its corresponding roller 15 strikes the surface 18 of the cam track causing the lifting arm to raise the sleeve, thus lifting the capping steel away from the can, the vent rod still holding the can cap in place.

On continued rotation the roller reaches the higher cam surface 19 and, as will be apparent, thus causes the sleeve to be further raised and to such an extent that it strikes the weight 13 of the vent rod and so raises the latter from the can. During this position of the parts the capped cans are discharged and new cans are fed in. Further rotation causes the roller to reach the normal surface 17 again whereupon the steel and vent roddescend by gravity to capping position and the above operation is repeated.

It is often desirable to raise the capping steels from the cans while they are .in capping position and means are provided for doing this, either singly or simultaneously. Extending outwardly from each lifting arm 14 is a lug or handle 21, by means of which the corresponding steel may be manually raised. Substantially co-extensive with that part of the capper in which the soldering process takes place, is an arcuate lifting bar 22 arranged to be just cleared by the handles or lugs 21 of the lifting arms 14, which are, as will be apparent, in their lowermost position during this portion of their travel.

- This lifting bar is suspended from a bracket 23 connected by a bar 24 with another bracket 25 which is pivoted, as at 26, to lugs 27 on the stationary framework. To raise the brackets and consequently the lifting bar, a manually operated lever 2S has attached thereto a wedge-shaped cam member 29 which is embraced between a roller 31 onthe connecting bar 24 of the brackets and a roller 32 on a stationary upright 33. It will be seen that when the lever 28 is operated to move cam member 29, the latter, being driven between the movable and fixed members will cause the former to be raised. This lifting of the brackets causes the sleeve supported capping steels to be raised from capping position by the lifting bar 22 carrying Yupward the lug or handles 21.

To retain the parts in raised position the cam member 29 is provided with a notch 34 which engages roller 31 and thus operates as a catch. The movement of the cam in either direction is limited by a T-Shaped formation 35 at its free end to prevent its being withdrawn from between the rollers, and a projection 36 at the lever end adapted to engage the fixed roller to prevent further movementin the operating direction.

It will be seen that whenit is desirable to raise the capping steels during the solderi ing process it is only necessary to swing lever 2S in a direction to drive the wedgeshaped cam between the two rollers and all the steels in capping position will be raised as lifting arm 22 acts on all the sleeves not raised by cam track 16. A reverse movement of levers 28 permits the parts to return to normal position by gravity.

In feeding the cans to capping position, a rotary star sweeper 37 carries them from an endless conveyor 3S onto a stationary table 39 and thence to the rotary table of the capper. Associated with the sweeper, to aid in directing the course of the cans, is a substantially arcuate guide 40 roughly concentric with the sweeper. A similar discharging star sweeper 41 serves to direct the capped cans from the rotary table to another endless conveyer 42. This star sweeper also has associated with it a guide 43 similar to the first.

The feeding guide 40 comprises two arms 44 and 45 each partially curved and crossed so that the curved portions form a continuous arc for the complete guide. In order that the guide may be adjusted to suit various sized cans the non-guiding ends of the arms 44 and 45 are pivotally secured to a support or lbracket 46 by bolts 47 so that by swinging the arms the radius of the arc of the guide may be increased or decreased as required. Means are provided for securing the parts in the position desired. Integral with each arm is a slotted lug 48 which embraces the pivotal bolt of the opposite arm. These slotted lugs slide along the bolt when the arms are swung and when the desii-ed adjustment is attained the nuts with which the bolts 47 are provided are tightened and by engaging the lugs 4S clamp the parts in place.

To aid in guiding and properly centering the cans a movable tip 49 is pivotally connected to the inner end of the guide arm 45 and is pressed toward the path of the cans by a spring 50 bearing on lugs 51 and 51u formed on the arm 45 and the tip respectively. The extent to which the tip 49 is pressed inwardly by its spring is limited by a stop comprising an adjustable pin 52 on the tip member arranged to strike against a lug 52u formed on the guide arm. This pin 52 is similar to a set screw and by altering its adjustment the tip may be pressed inwardly to a greater or less extent. r Associating with the guide 40 in properly directing the cans to capping position is an adjustable centering guide 53 having a curved portion and located across the cans pathway from the guide 40 and opposite the inner end thereof. This guide 53 is secured to the stationary table 39 by bolts 54 which pass through slots so arranged that the guide may be moved on the bolts to place it nearer or farther from the opposite guide 40, nuts or thumb screws on the bolts servmg to clamp it in any position to which it may be moved.

The discharge guide 43 is a duplicate of the feed guide 40, except that there is no pivoted tip on the inner end, and the pivotal bolts for the arms are carried by the same support or bracket 46. The latter member is movable toward or away from the capper by means of a slot and bolt connection 55, and, as such movement carries with it the two arcuate guides, it will be seen that means are provided not only for adjusting the radii of the arcuate guides but also for adjusting their centers.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a can capper, the combination with a plurality of capping steels, of means for automatically raising a plurality of said steels from capping position, and manually operated means for simultaneously raising` the remainder of said steels.

2. In a can capper, the combination with a rotating support for the cans, of a plurality of capping steels rotating in unison therewith, means for automatically raising said steels from the cans during a portion of their travel, and manually operated means for simultaneously raising the steels not so raised.

3. In a can capper, the combination W'ith a plurality of capping steels, of means for automatically raising a plurality of said steels out of capping position, means for raising. any of the unraised steels singly, and manually operated means for simultane` ously raising the steels not raised by said first-named means.

4. In a can capper, the combination with a plurality of capping steels adapted to travel in a definite path, of means for raising singly any of said steels out of capping position, means for automatically raising said steels out of capping position during a portion of said travel and manually operated means for simultaneously raising said steels when not raised by said second-named means.'

5. In a can capper, the combination with a plurality of vertically movable capping steels, of a steel-raising arm associated with each of said capping steels, a lifting bar beneath said arms arranged to be just cleared thereby when the steels are in capping position, means for supporting said lifting bar, a lever-operated cam member associated with said supporting means, and means whereby on operation of said cam member the latter acts on said supporting means to raise said lifting bar said raising arms be ing operated thereby to raise the capping steels out of capping position.

6. A can capper comprising a capping steel, means for causing said steel to travel -in a fixed path, means for automatically raising said steel from contact with the can cap during part of its travel, and manually controlled means for raising said steel from the cap during another part of its travel, said steel in its travel moving past said manually controlledmeans.

can capper comprising a capping steel, means for causing said steel to travel in a fixed path, means for automatically raising said steel from contact with the can cap during part of its travel, and manually controlled guide means for raising said steel from the cap during another part of its travel, said steel in its travel moving past said manually controlled means.

8. A rotary can capper comprising a cap ping steel, means for causing said steel to travel in a circular path, means for automatically raising said steel from contact with the can cap during part of its travel, and manually controlled means for raising said steel from the cap during another part of its travel, said steel in its travel moving past said manually controlled means.

9. A rotary can capper comprising a capping steel, means for causing said steel to travel in a circular path, means for automatically raising said steel from Contact with the can cap during part of its travel, and manually controlled means for raising said steel from the cap during another part of its travel, said last means including a lever member and a guide carried thereby, said steel in its travel moving past said manually controlled means.

l0. vA rotary can capper comprising a capping steel, means for causing said steel to travel in a circular path, means for automatically raising said steel from the can cap during a part of its travel, including 'a pivoted arm provided with follower means and including also a cam engaged by said means, saidarm being further provided with other follower means, and a manually actuated guide for engaging said second follower means during another part of the travel.

11. A rotary can capper comprising a capping steel, means for causing said steel to travel in a circular path, means for automatically raising said steel from the can cap during a part of its travel, including a pivoted arm provided with follower means and including also a cam engaged by said means, said arm being further provided with other follower means, a manually actuated guide for engaging said second follower means during another part of the travel, and a lever member on which said second guide is mounted. v

l2. A rotary can capper comprising a capping steel, means for causing said steel to travel in a circular path, and manually actuated means for lifting said steel from the can caps during a portion of its travel comprising a lever member pivoted to swing about a horizontal axis, a track 'carried thereby, and Comprising also means including" a'hand lever pivoted to move about a from the cap during another portion of the travel comprising an arcuate track of 15 greater radius than said circular path, said arm being also provided with follower means for engaging said last track.

In Witness whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name in the presence of two Wit- 20 nesses.

CHARLES H. BOYD.

Witnesses:

ANTHONY J. KoLLooK, FRANK G. WEs'rLAND.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, D. C. 

